"Notchy" Front Wheel Hub

[Armegatron]

Hi all,
I have been using my bike for commuting in this icey snowy weather and havnt really done much in the way of servicing, apart from chain and frame cleaning. Ive had the bike since September and have so far done 650 miles.

I removed the front wheel from the bike yesterday and as I loosened the QR the wheel rotated. I thought this was slightly odd but didn't think much at the time. Anyway, after sorting everything else out I moved onto the front wheel and noticed that the axle (not sure on technical names yet so bear with me) was notchy in its movement and not smooth like the rear one.

I fear that some road salt may have entered the bearings, or the grease may be thinned due to natural wear and tear.

I was able to remove the cones and have a quick look, but decided to carry on tonight after work. So, putting it back together I noticed that if I barely tighted the cone up against the bearings it was fairly smooth.

So, my questions are (and thanks for "bearing" with me ):

• What do I need to do to clean the bearings up? (remove balls, GT85 / White Spirit, re-grease with lithium)
• Do I need to just tighten the cone to hand tight or is there some mechanism internally that prevents enovertighting (like a flange)?

Cheers,
Mike

 

[briank]

Hi Mike

Yes, clean everything up as well as possible: hubs are worth trying to be a bit clinical about!
As you tighten the bearings, spin the wheel repeatedly: it's not the tightness of the spanners that matters. A good rule of thumb is to tighten until there is perceptible resistance to turning, then slacken off a third or half a turn. Have a few shots at it: even if you're careful to keep the adjustment constant as you tighten the locknut, the end loading on the bearing will increase slightly. There should be no noticeable play at the wheel rim when you wobbler it side to side, but, that said, better a little loose than too tight.
Before any of this you might want to check out why the bearings need attention after only 650 miles. Machine made bikes often have the wheel bearings a bit over-tightened: maybe they just need slackening off a touch.

Good luck.

 

[Armegatron]

Machine made bikes often have the wheel bearings a bit over-tightened: maybe they just need slackening off a touch.

Good luck.

Thanks for the sound advice - much appreciated.

I think your right in that they may have been too tight from the start, and perhaps I have just noticed because when the wheel is on the bike it does spin quite nicely. The grease in there did seem nice and black, with no visible particles of muck or grit, and the balls and cones didn't seem to have any damage to the surfaces.

Ill re-assemble with the fine tuning you suggested and Ill try and source some greases and white spirit over the holidays to cover that being a probable cause too.

Thanks again for the advice

 

[tyred]

The other thing to try and check is that there is enough grease in the hub. I have saw a few new wheels recently where there was little or no grease in it when delivered. This is increasingly common according to my LBS owner.

Too much is better than too little. The excess can be wiped off later. Ordinary car grease or Vaseline will do fine.

 

[accountantpete]

If you want the wheel spot on then try leaving a very small amount of play when you adjust the locknut - the QR tension set reasonably firmly should then take this up.